News in Brief: A National Roundup

Judge Rules Columbine High Must Display Religious Tiles

The Jefferson County, Colo., school district violated the First
Amendment free-speech rights of the parents of two students slain at
Columbine High School when it barred them from contributing tiles with
religious messages to a wall inside the school, a federal judge ruled
last week.

Families of the 12 students and one teacher killed by Eric Harris
and Dylan Klebold in the 1999 gun attack at Columbine, as well as
rescue workers and others, were invited by an art teacher to paint
ceramic tiles and add them to a wall inside the high school.

The parents of two of the victims, students Daniel Rohrbaugh and
Kelly Fleming, sought to paint tiles with religious themes such as
"Jesus is Lord" and "Jesus Wept."

School officials told the families the tiles could not include
religious themes or references to the date of the attack. But the
families argued in court that many of the other tiles included
references to the date and religious symbols such as a "Jesus
fish."

U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel of Denver ruled from the bench
on Oct. 15 that the 89,000-student district had created a limited
public forum for free speech when it opened the tiled wall at Columbine
for decoration by outsiders. He also said that administrators had been
inconsistent in applying the rules about what could go on the tiles and
that religious messages could not be excluded.

The school district was weighing an appeal last week.

—Mark Walsh

Miami-Dade School Board Taps Interim Superintendent

A former county manager will be the interim superintendent of
Florida's Miami-Dade County schools.

The school board voted 5-3 on Oct. 17 to appoint Merrett R.
Stierheim, a veteran local public administrator. Mr. Stierheim will
begin running the nation's fourth-largest district this week. In his
career, Mr. Stierheim has served twice as Miami-Dade County manager, as
the chief executive officer of the Women's Tennis Association, and as
the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Miami
Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has served as a local troubleshooter
of sorts, working for free as the Miami city manager in 1996 and
uncovering a $68 million shortfall.

Mr. Stierheim replaces Roger C. Cuevas, who was fired Sept. 26 after
serving as superintendent for five years.

In his letter of application to the board, Mr. Stierheim cited the
budget and classroom overcrowding as "immediate critical issues."

—Karla Scoon Reid

Authorities Investigate Cause Of Fatal Nebraska Bus Crash

Investigators are looking into the causes of a school bus crash in
Omaha, Neb., that killed two students and a parent involved in a
marching-band competition.

One lead authorities are pursuing is whether a tour bus carrying
students from Norfolk High School in Norfolk, Neb., crossed into the
lane occupied by a bus from Seward High School in Seward, Neb. Two
14-year-old students from Seward and a parent died; 29 other students
were injured in the Oct. 13 crash.

The bus drove through a guard rail and plunged 62 feet into a
creek.

"We have conflicting reports about what happened," said Capt. Dan
McGovern of the Douglas County sheriff's office. Three tour buses were
traveling in the opposite direction of the Seward bus, he said, one of
which might have crossed the center line.

At least one Seward student said the bus driver steered to avoid the
tour bus from Norfolk, which was also traveling for the marching-band
competition, he said.

—Mark Stricherz

Teachers in Illinois City Return To Work After Strike

The 19-day teachers' strike in Granite City, Ill., ended last week
as school officials and the district's 412 teachers approved an
agreement on salaries and health-insurance benefits.

Steven M. Bayen, the district's superintendent, said the new,
six-year contract will give teachers salary increases of 3.5 percent
this year, more than the 3 percent the district originally offered.
Future raises will be determined later.

In addition, teachers will have to join a health-maintenance
organization and pay $29 a month for family coverage. Previously, the
teachers were not required to pay for their health insurance, Mr. Bayen
said.

Both sides ended up getting what they wanted from the contract, said
Lee Wilson, a field-service director for the Illinois Federation of
Teachers and the chief union negotiator.

The only issue still to be resolved, he said, is how students and
teachers will make up the lost days.

—Michelle Galley

PTA Treasurer in N.M. Confesses To Stealing

The PTA treasurer of an elementary school in New Mexico has admitted
taking more than $15,000 from the association's treasury to feed a
gambling addiction.

Linda DeBuck confessed to the PTA president of Matheson Park
Elementary School in Albuquerque on Sept. 9, and promised to repay all
the money within a few months, according to a police report filed the
following day.

Ms. DeBuck, 42, whose husband is a captain in the Albuquerque Police
Department, could not be reached for comment. But she told The
Albuquerque Journal she was sorry for the pain she caused others,
and said she had always intended to repay the money.

Capt. Craig Loy, who wrote the police report, said in an interview
that Ms. DeBuck had also admitted to him that she took the money,
explaining that a gambling habit she developed first at casinos and
then on the Internet left her in debt.

The problem was uncovered on Sept. 5, when PTA President Teri
Johnson opened a bank statement reflecting the treasury's account. The
balance was less than $2,800 when it should have been about $18,000,
the police report said.

Capt. Loy said no charges had been filed yet.

—Catherine Gewertz

Two Students Charged With Rape of Girl at School

Two students from Milford Mill Academy in Baltimore County, Md.,
were charged with first-degree rape last week in the assault of a
15-year-old girl at the public school. Two other students were being
sought for questioning in the case.

Police said the girl entered a school elevator, typically used by
handicapped students, along with four boys. The boys stopped the
elevator between floors and one of them allegedly assaulted her, police
said.

Cpl. Vickie Warehime of the Baltimore County police department said
there was no known motive behind the assault, and that the students
involved apparently did not know one another beforehand.

The two boys, both 17, are being held without bail. They were
charged as adults after turning themselves in to police a few days
after the incident.

Charles Herndon, a spokesman for the Baltimore County schools,
called the assault an "isolated incident."

Only one of the students, a boy who uses a wheelchair, was supposed
to be in the elevator, he said. "The others were just catching a ride
apparently," Mr. Herndon said.

—Marianne Hurst

Judge Bars Association From Ban on Cheerleading

A Pennsylvania judge has issued a temporary injunction to lift the
ban on acrobatic cheerleading imposed by a local athletic
association.

Lehigh County Court Judge James Gardner issued the order Oct. 11,
after parents and students from Catasauqua Area High School in
Catasauqua and two other neighboring high schools sued the association
over the ban on such activities at school games.

The judge set a Nov. 26 date to further review the lawsuit.

John P. Karoly Jr., a lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, argued
that the Colonial League had violated the state's "Sunshine Act" in
imposing the rule last May. The act requires public bodies to advertise
their meetings and open them to the public.

Al Wilson, the president of the Colonial League, disputed that the
league fell under the sunshine law, but said it would abide by the
injunction. The league imposed the ban out of fear for cheerleaders'
safety.

—Marianne Hurst

Calif. District Tackles Abuse After Boy Beaten at School

The Orange Unified School District in California plans to post signs
in every school saying that abuse of any kind will not be tolerated
after a middle school boy was severely beaten on his birthday.

The 14-year-old was hospitalized for 10 days with internal injuries
after classmates at Portola Middle School in Orange, Calif., beat him
on Oct. 5. Officials in the 30,000-student district said "play
punching" students on their birthdays is a school tradition.

The boy, who has yet to fully recover, will be taught at home for at
least the next two months, according to Frank Boehler, the director of
the district's child-welfare and attendance office.

Three alleged assailants have been arrested on misdemeanor battery
charges, but officials may seek felony charges because of the severity
of the boy's injuries. The students may also be expelled.

The students allegedly punched the boy several times in the stomach,
damaging his spleen and causing internal bleeding.

The incident unleashed a wave of concern in the community. School
and law enforcement officials have told students in several assemblies
that the punching tradition must stop.

—Rhea R. Borja

Vol. 21, Issue 8, Page 4

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